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A Coventry food business operator has been given a huge fine after pleading guilty to food hygiene offences.

Inventure Coventry Ltd, the food business operator of Opus Foods, 378 Foleshill Road, Coventry pleaded guilty to the offences at Coventry Magistrates Court on 20 June 2025. 

Inventure Coventry Ltd were fined a total of £42,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,745. This is the largest fine imposed by the Court in this type of case for many years.

Council food and safety officers visited the business to undertake an unannounced food hygiene inspection on 14 October 2024. During this visit officers found:

• Poor cleaning in the shop, including the display chillers.
• Rat droppings, grease marks from the rats and gnawed food offered for sale – all indicating an active rat infestation.
• Fifteen packets of cooked meat were identified as being offered for sale passed their use by dates. The oldest packet displayed a use by date of 23rd April 2024.

Given the very poor conditions, the business voluntarily closed and stopped trading whilst remedial works were undertaken to improve conditions.

On 15 October, officers revisited and found that although cleaning and pest control measures were in the process of being implemented, eight pallets of food were found to be damaged by rodents. All eight pallets of food were voluntarily surrendered to officers to ensure they were not offered for sale.

At that time, the business was re rated by officers and given a food hygiene rating of 0.

Officers worked with the food business to ensure conditions were improved and it was safe to operate. Once this was established, the premises reopened for trading.

On 18 December 2024, following a request for a re-rating revisit, a food hygiene rating of 4 (hygiene standards are good) was achieved. 

Inventure Coventry Ltd pleaded guilty to offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations in respect of the following identified issues:

• Failure to keep the premises clean.
• Failure to put in place adequate procedures to control pests.
• Failure to protect food from contamination likely to render the food unfit for human consumption, injurious to health or contaminated in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state.
• Failure to implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points) principles.
• Failure to ensure adequate provision was made for the storage and disposal of food waste, non-edible by-products and other refuse.
• Offered food for sale which had expired its ‘use by date’.
• Offered food for sale which was unacceptable for human consumption due to contamination.

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